Botan Burlycloud
Bakuzan's mother and Benjiro's wife. Botan Burlycloud, nee Blacksoil, is the former head chef of one of Stoneplow's most prestigious bars, the Gilded Feather. The business was destroyed in the Mantid incursion, along with a grand majority of the Burlycloud holdings. Botan was a quiet, gentle cub that wiled away hours lazily dreaming of grand adventures beyond the Serpent's Spine. When confronted with possibly becoming a member of the storied Shado-Pan, Botan balked, preferring to stay in her books and paintings. Her life was stoic and uneventful, interspersed with trips to Halfhill and lessons in music, art and Pandaren cuisines. Despite the Burlycloud family patriarch's reputation for being abrasively hateful, Botan spent many hours sneaking out to spend time with Benjiro, their youngest and most rambunctious son. A childhood romance blossomed, but Botan never acted on it - instead working with the Blacksoil family in the Gilded Feather's kitchens, as was expected, to carry on the family legacy. Gossip soon spread around Stoneplow regarding the pair, but nothing ever came from it - the Burlyclouds refused to pair up their prodigal son with a common child like Botan. By the time she and 'Big Ears Benji' came of age, Botan hadn't mustered up the courage to tell him of her feelings. Benjiro often made trips to the Temple of the Red Crane in nearby Krasarang to deliver orders of Witchberries and other such goods to the acolytes, typically being gone for days to weeks at a time. It was there that he had met Kazue Lotusheart and was immediately smitten by her radiant beauty - eventually siring a child out of wedlock with her. Benjiro eventually returned home out of shame and regret, refusing to speak of the incident that caused him to flee his life at the Temple. Botan was there to comfort him - driven to admit her feelings for him out of her own regret and pain in seeing her beloved suffering; blaming herself for his own heartbreak for not acting sooner and sparing him from ever having to leave. The pair were soon married, despite protests from the Burlycloud patriarchs, and they conceived a healthy baby daughter. Botan's life was, once again, uneventful. After their marriage, Botan and Benjiro built and moved into their own home on the Burlycloud family lands. The elder generations of Burlyclouds wanted nothing to do with Botan, so she mostly spent time with her own family line - socially odd for a Pandaren family, but not unheard of, to prefer one lineage above the other. Their child Bakuzan was raised a giggly, happy cub that followed heavily in the path of her parents - given Benjiro's stubborn resilience and scheming, along with Botan's motherly tendencies and passion for creation. Nothing else of note happened to Botan until the Mantid incursion of Stoneplow. She was one of the unfortunate firsts to hear the rumblings of the Mantid beyond the wall. In preparing to evacuate her daughter, Botan was unable to locate Benjiro anywhere in the ensuing chaos. It soon struck Botan that the her in-laws would refuse to leave their precious land - precariously close to the Mantid's wall. Despite her pleas for them to come with her to safety, the patriarch and his brother wouldn't be moved, and were swiftly slaughtered by the encroaching hordes. [ WIP ] Category:Characters Category:Pandaren Category:Deceased Category:Burlycloud